


Good Intentions

by InnerCinema, Kuailong, letthesongtakeflight, SatinSatire



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Marvel Shipping Games 2014, Prohibition Era AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-05 11:38:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3118739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InnerCinema/pseuds/InnerCinema, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kuailong/pseuds/Kuailong, https://archiveofourown.org/users/letthesongtakeflight/pseuds/letthesongtakeflight, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SatinSatire/pseuds/SatinSatire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In prohibition era Chicago, speak-easies crop up like daffodils. The Avenger is an exception to the rule, in it's high class owner, high-brow staff, and generally aristocratic atmosphere. Where Senators brush elbows with Businessmen. Natasha Romanoff, lover to the owner, Tony Stark, lives with a sordid past. And it comes to bite her in the worst possible way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Good Intentions

 

Tony Stark surveyed his kingdom. He may not have been an official king, with a crown and mounds of treasure, but he had a kingdom. He was unofficial royalty, the king of Chicago. This city was his, he ran it. He had the ear of every politician, he had the police department in his pocket. He ruled this city, and it was his kingdom. But more so his kingdom was contained in these tunnels. Service tunnels below his warehouses, below his offices. When you entered, they were simply tunnels, a maze to get lost in. Unless you knew the markers. If you followed the right path, it brought you to Tony Stark’s true kingdom. It brought you to the Avenger. The premiere speakeasy, the most upscale, illegal bar in town. Governors dined and wined and rubbed elbows with top musicians. Favorite artists and wealthy landowners. If you were in the know, you hung out here. Business deals were struck over these tables, connections made and ties severed. Chicago, even the fine state of Illinois, was ran in these tunnels. In the front room where the bar was, or the back rooms, where privacy cost you a pretty penny. And Tony loved it. This was his. All his.

He strolled into the main room, technically, the bar hadn’t opened yet. Day shift was ending for most of the working class, not that they’d come here, but he ran his bar on a strict schedule. He glanced to the side, watching Pepper and Bruce as they set the bar up for the night. Pepper waved at him and he nodded his head back. Tonight they were planning on having the full band, and it was bound to crowded down here. But Tony had eyes for one person, the Russian sitting on stage tuning her sax and nursing a glass of vodka. While many people thought Pepper and Tony were an item, a well-kept Avenger secret was that Natasha and Tony were the item. He strolled up to the stage, eying his prize. Tonight she had a fancy scarlet number on, just this side of decent. He stepped onto the stage and walked towards her.

“Gonna be a full house tonight, ‘Tasha. You up for it?” he asked conversationally, walking over to slide his hand onto her arm.

“When am I never up for it, Tony?” she purred, setting her saxophone on the floor beside her. He watched her handle her instrument with care; he knew how much she loved it.

“Clint sent word in earlier, he’ll be here tonight,” Tony said, placing his other hand on her other arm. She leaned into him.

“Good, we can do the favorites tonight then,” she said to him, lifting her head to look at him. Despite her Russian heritage, and even nationality, there wasn’t a trace of an accent in her voice.

“You gonna sing tonight, doll? You know they love that,” Tony purred into her hair, and he felt her chuckle.

“Maybe, depends how good the tips are tonight,” she purred back, reaching up to tug on his tie.

“Governor’s gonna be here tonight, baby. He’s got some business deal with the Governor of Ohio. Said he wants it special tonight, he tipped big already.” Tony leaned down and murmured into her ear. She shivered at the closeness and flashed him a grin.

 

“Then I think I can find it in myself to sing a few numbers.” She smirked at him.

The evening was starting out to be quite nifty. Even shortly after opening, the bar had been buzzing with the cream of the crop and – Tony still could not believe that Nobody Home still dared to give it a try - Thor had already told Justin Hammer to beat it. Now, the idle chatter was dulled to honor the rare occasion that was listening to Miss Romanoff’s excellent voice. Even Tony, always the busy sovereign, paused to savor the moment, especially when he caught her eyes on him, a sly smile on her lips as she sang her interpretation of a classic with the richest voice of all New York.

 

_“Hold me close and hold me fast_

_The magic spell you cast_

_This is la vie en rose_

 

_When you kiss me, heaven sighs_

_And though I close my eyes_

_I see la vie en rose ...”_

 

Only when the Governor required his attention he looked away and traded his honest little smile for one of his usual public ones and engaged in a good humored talk about his talented employees, laced with political metaphors and hints.

After a while he excused himself to make his usual rounds: Taking care of the cash till, asking Thor about incidents, listening to Pepper’s advice on the newest need to know intel, ordering to refill the band’s drinks. Everything was going well; the guests were happy, nobody had made a scene so far but there was an itch at the back of his mind boding ill.

 

Tony went to the bar and ordered a Tuxedo #2. He leaned against the polished wood of the bar top, making idle chatter with Pepper until she moved away to serve a customer. He savored the taste of gin and vermouth. Prohibition was a nuisance, but not one that he had been unable to overcome. Other speakeasies were limited to whatever booze they could find or ill-conceived homebrews that made him queasy just thinking about, but he had enough connections to be able to bring in the best for his customers. He turned to gaze at the bar, studying Natasha as the band finished playing a song. He caught her eye at the end and motioned for her to come to him. He slid his empty glass down to Pepper, who caught it without batting an eye and put it aside with all of the other dirty glasses.

Natasha turned and leaned over to say something to Steve. He nodded and immediately began to play a lively melody on the piano. She stepped down from the stage, the darker red sequins on her scarlet dress sparkling under the lights. Pearls – pearls he had given her – wrapped around her throat and draped gracefully down her front, stopping coquettishly below her waist. The dress ended just above her knees but the fringe trailed down lower, flowing sensuously with her movement. In watching her he hadn’t even realized he had licked the corner of his mouth.

“You’re looking hungry, daddy,” she greeted him, leaning up to kiss him.

His hand rested on her waist, caressing her possessively. “Am I?” he asked, smiling. “I’ve only got eyes for you, baby.”

They were in public but neither one cared. The customers were busy drinking and laughing; if anyone noticed they would assume it was just Tony being Tony, flirting with another dame.

“Dance with me. We have the time tonight.”

She took his offered hand with a smile, and glided across the dance floor with him. Thor had joined Steve and had begun to play the saxophone. The tune faded away and was replaced by something soft, mellow, and romantic. Natasha’s dark red painted lips parted in a wide smile. Her boys were talented. She didn’t like to speak of her past, not even to Tony, but she could admit to herself that it felt good to have a family again.

To belong.

Tony leaned down his lips close to her ear. “You ever think about the future?”

“No,” she answered honestly. “I live for the day, so no matter what happens tomorrow, I can have no regrets.”

He grinned at her. “Here and I thought all dames couldn’t wait for their man to get them a handcuff.”

She sniffed delicately. “Hmph. Marriage is the last thing I think of and believe me, honey, making it sound like jail isn’t the way to my heart.”

He laughed, the sound so full of genuine pleasure that it made her smile. Then the feeling of foreboding returned and he looked around warily, the laughter dying in his throat. Her instincts were even more fine tuned than his were and he pulled her closer to him, urgently but not with the usual urgency of the past that led to long nights in bed.

“There’s something in the air tonight. Something wrong. Do you feel it, too?”

Natasha glanced around the room. It all looked like a normal night at the Avenger. guests talking, laughing, dancing. The band playing onstage, under spotlights in the otherwise dimly lit joint. The silver saxophone in Thor's hands caught the light and reflected it like a disco ball. The air was cloudy with smoke from cigars and cigarettes, and their scent was heady in the closed room.

 

Natasha drew in her breath sharply. Her wide eyes were focused on something behind Tony's back in a fixed stare. "What's wrong?" Tony turned around to look, but Natasha quickly said, "Nothing," and drew his attention back to her.

 

Her face was pale and the smile she gave him was too shaky to be reassuring. Tony had never seen Natasha this shaken before. "It's not nothing, Tasha. What did you see?" He stared intently at her, gripping her upper arms.

 

"I — I don't know," she said feebly, unable to meet Tony's gaze. She tried to keep her hands from trembling as she put them on Tony's shoulders once again to resume dancing. "it's not important." Tony could feel the tremor in her body; whatever she saw, whatever she was keeping from him, had to be a big deal if it could affect her this way. He wanted to push her for more, but he knew that this was too public a place to be having that conversation. So he rested his hands on her hips again, pulling her closer to him as they swayed in time to the upbeat jazz. She would tell him later, he was sure.

\--------—

"Did y'all see anything weird tonight?" Tony asked later that night, when the guests had left and the crew was gathered around a table in the back for drinks and snacks. Natasha was the only one missing; she had told Clint to join the others first, and then had slipped into the back, presumably to use the John.  
  
"Weird how?" Pepper asked.  
  
Tony shrugged. "Just a feeling." He didn't mention that Natasha saw something that spooked her; he didn't know if that had to do with anything, only that it made him feel even more uneasy tonight.  
  
The redhead in question, meanwhile, came over and slid onto the seat next to Tony. She crossed her legs and her dress slid up to reveal her leg. Tony lay a hand on her knee, his other arm going around her shoulders to pull her closer to him. She leaned against him, fitting snugly into his form.  
  
"I saw this guy," Clint said while nursing a bottle of beer. Tony felt Natasha tense up next to him. "Never saw him here before. Dark hair, brawny, looks hard boiled. Came alone, didn't talk to anyone, just drank and watched us play."  
  
Tony glanced over at Natasha, watching her reaction to Clint’s words. He didn’t miss her motion, and he could easily tell something was wrong. But he wasn’t going to press the issue in front of the others, not if she was trying so hard to keep whatever the secret was. He squeezed her knee and turned his attention back towards their group. At least Tony wasn’t stingy with his underground employees. Their meal was top notch, and Tony typically kept some of his best stuff for them. Not that they weren’t his normal employees as well. Every single one of them had a job within his company, but he counted them more as friends, maybe even family, than he did employees. This was his rag-tag group of suspicious people. Ex-carnies mixed with overly buff Europeans. And everything in-between.  
  
“Good night tonight, Tony?” Steve asked, leaning back with his glass of scotch. Tony flashed him a grin; he hadn’t had the time to count the till yet, but it was easy to tell they had a good night for business.  
  
“’Tasha bring in the dough tonight, big cheese?” Clint grinned and flicked his cigarette butt at Thor. It smacked the large European right between the eyes. Thor smirked back and flipped Clint the bird. Bruce chuckled from his corner.  
  
“She always does, doesn’t she?” Pepper said, walking over to their table and taking her rightful seat amongst them. Tony glanced over at Natasha, frowning a little at her unusual quietness. Something had definitely been off that night, and she was closing herself off. Her glass of vodka had barely been touched, and she was only picking at her plate of food. The rest of their evening was filled with small talk, and shop talk for both businesses. Natasha bowed out early, but Tony knew she hadn’t left the area completely. When the talk was dying down, he nodded and bowed out himself. He caught up to her in one of the adjacent tunnels, standing among several cigarette butts and a bottle of half finished vodka.  
  
“Alright, ‘Tash. What’s eating you?” Tony asked as he strolled up and slipped an arm around her waist. She hesitated and pulled away a little. Natasha looked away, cast her eyes toward the ground, and didn’t answer. She just took another swig of vodka.  
  
“Level with me, please.” He didn’t let go, instead he pulled her closer. He could see she was well on her way to getting tanked, despite her almost inhuman alcohol tolerance.  
  
She still wouldn’t look at him, and it was really starting to concern him.  
  
“Natasha …” He would plead with her if it would work in getting her to open up. Finally, she turned to look up at him.  
  
“There are things I haven’t told you about my past, Tony. And one nearly came to bite me in the ass tonight.”  
  
Tony furrowed his brows. Natasha never talked about her past, no one in the gang knew what happened to her before she came to America. Even Tony didn't know anything about her life in Russia, he always assumed that something terrible must have happened to her; why else would a young girl leave her home and family, if she had any, to come alone to a strange new country? He'd been curious, yes, but he never asked, especially knowing how much she wanted to leave that behind her. She was her own woman now, she'd told him back when they first started dating, a different woman from who she had been, and he had accepted that because he loved her.  
  
So now, he knew how big a deal it was that she would bring up her past. He didn't speak, but waited for her to continue. "Back in Russia, I was involved with a gang. A criminal organisation that called themselves 'HYDRA'." She took drag from her cigarette. "I was a kid, I barely knew English and I had to get out of Russia; I needed their help, so I worked for them. Helped them smuggle drugs and other stuff into the country. And they gave me a fake passport, took me in when I got here, taught me how to act American. Once I was steady on my feet I wanted out – that's the whole reason I came here, to start afresh.  
  
"But they wouldn't let me. Threatened to snitch on me to the police if I left. So I stayed, continued working for them, but turns out that just gave them more to blackmail me with. Eventually I realised that I can't spend the rest of my life doing that – living no better than I did in Russia, always looking over my shoulder. So I ran away. Ditched the passport they gave me, changed my name, lived on the lam for a while, moving from city to city. Until I found y'all." The corner of her lip twitched up as she said this and Tony rubbed her back gently.  
  
"What happened tonight?" he asked.  
  
"The guy Clint saw – he works for HYDRA . His name's Rumlow, and he's pretty high up their food chain, he was the one I reported to. I have no clue how he found me, he shouldn't even know that I'm in Chicago. After we closed I followed him out, asked him what he wanted."  
  
"Tasha!" Tony murmured, drawing her closer to him. He couldn't imagine what this Rumlow character could have done to her. "Don't take anymore wooden nickels."  
  
"Hey, I'm here, all right?" She traced a finger up his abdomen to his chest. "Rumlow was here to make me join them again," she finished her tale with a sigh. "He's got a lot of dirt on me, from what I've done for them here and in Russia."  
  
"What'd'you tell him?"  
  
"That I'd think about it. I'm not actually going back," she added at his shocked expression. "I need to buy time. Maybe to go away again, build up a new identity. I don't know." She sighed and leaned her head against Tony's chest.  
  
Tony’s back stiffened and Natasha lifted her head as she interpreted that as rejection of her, hurt flashing across her features for a split second before she gathered her composure.  
  
“I shouldn’t--” she began but he cut her off with a kiss. The nearly spent cigarette fell from her fingertips to join the remains of the others on the ground.  
  
“You’re not going away again. If this clown found you once, what’s to say he won’t find you again?” His tone softened. “Tasha. Do you really want to keep running?”  
  
“No. I hate it. Hated having to be someone different in every city, phony names, phony accents or lack thereof.” She gave him a ghost of a smile. “No one ever really knew me and I felt like, I don’t know, that I was fading out of existence.” She knew she wasn’t making sense but she was unable to explain how lonely it had been to tell lie after lie, never allowing herself to trust anyone, to have left lovers (not that she actually loved them) and friends (not that she trusted them). She had tired of it, and then she had come to Chicago and she had met Tony and… and it had been like a dream.  
  
He gently pried the bottle of vodka from her grasp and set it aside. “I know enough about you, the things that matter. I don’t care who you were or what you did.” He gently cradled her face in his hands. “You’re mine, and that’s what matters to me.”  
  
“Possessive,” she murmured before he gave her a deep kiss.  
  
“You bet I am, sweetheart.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “It also matters to me that this Rumlow is trying to blackmail you again. I don’t think he’s just going to scram if we ask nicely.” He brightened. “Maybe he can be bumped off.”  
  
Maybe it was the alcohol affecting her, but his expression and words made her laugh.  
  
“What? I know plenty of--”  
  
“I know; that’s not even in question. But even if he takes a walk off a pier wearing cement shoes, there will be others. There’s always others.” Bitterness dripped from her words. “Cut off one head and more…” she trailed off, her small hands clenching into fists.  
  
“We’ll figure something out,” he soothed her. “Tell him whatever he wants to hear for the time being.”  
  
“All right,” she said, and it was more of a weary sigh than anything else.  
  
“Let’s go to bed, baby.”  
  
Natasha nodded and followed him through the tunnel, trying not to think of what tomorrow would bring.

\-----------------------------

Tomorrow brought a letter addressed to her that had been slid under the front door sometime between breakfast and lunchtime. She read the words written in Russian, and hid the letter in the pocket of her dressing gown when Tony walked into the room. She smiled and kissed him, but she didn’t really listen to what he was saying. Her mind was on the past and on the order she had received to meet Rumlow at Columbus Park. Later in the afternoon, she slipped into her coat with the large furred collar and left the house, her hat cocked at a coquettish angle. She looked lovely and elegant. No one would have had any idea of the revolver hidden in her coat pocket or the switchblade inside her dainty purse.  
  
Natasha knew Rumlow by sight, knew his frame and build everywhere. And she wanted nothing more than to fill the bastard with lead and walk away. But he was smart, had picked a crowded place, during a busy time of day. And even Tony Stark couldn’t wheedle her out of murder charges as clear as those. And she knew if she bumped off Rumlow, another would pop up. If Rumlow knew her location, so did HYDRA. And if she had doubts of the new speakeasy popping up, so well funded and well backed, well, she no longer held those doubts. There was no such thing as a happy coincidence in her life, and the new joint being named the Hydra was just too convenient of a thing. She hovered near a bench for a while, a shady spot in the midday sun. Soon enough she felt a presence, and turned around to find Rumlow leaning against the light pole.  
  
“Natalia, so nice to see you again.” He started and Natasha offered him a coy smile. She needed to play this cool. She leaned in and pecked his cheek in a casual greeting. Little did she know she was being observed.

\--------—

Steve Rogers enjoyed jogging around Columbus Park; he loved to people watch and enjoy the air. So when he noticed Natasha standing by herself in the shade, he had half a mind to go up and greet her. Until he noticed another man approach her.  
  
He hovered back, watching the exchange. She was certainly familiar with the man. And he looked like one of the new goons from the Hydra. In fact, Steve was certain of that fact. He made sure to know the competition, and this was definitely a new addition to the local goon squad. He hovered just out of earshot, listening in to the conversation.  
  
Well, that was his intent. But after the first sentence, they had switched to Russian. And Steve barely knew hello and the few words Natasha had taught him. The man started gesturing to her as he spoke, and Steve frowned when Natasha lay her hands on his to calm him. She was being awfully familiar with the man, and Steve knew about Tony and Natasha’s relationship. He could only assume the man was from her shadowed past, but why was he connected to the Hydra? And why was she so familiar with him?  
  
He creased his brow in a frown, and as he watched the exchange, his suspicion only grew. And then there was a word he did understand, the man was speaking about the Avenger. It was Natasha’s turn to gesture, and she seemed to get a little angry. Not that Steve could ever read her very well; she was a closed-off dame. He turned away, unable to watch any more. He knew he should go to Tony with this information, but it didn’t seem to be hurting anyone. He would try and find out more about the man.  
  
Five o'clock, and the Avenger was a flurry as the gang rushed to get ready for the night. It was going to be a big night, a few lucrative businessmen were coming and they were sure to tip big. They'd even reserved a bottle of the 1900 Bordeaux, which had cost Tony a sizable fortune to get a hold of. There just seemed to be more mishaps than usual tonight — a misplaced microphone, a few smashed glasses, and to top it off —  
  
"The Bordeaux's gone!" Pepper ran up from the back rooms, her usually perfectly styled hair in disarray, hat askew. The gang stared in numbed shock.  
  
"What do you mean it's gone?" Tony demanded, leaping up from where he'd been sitting.  
  
"It's all gone, the whole dozen." Pepper was halfway in hysterics.

With a muttered curse Tony strode into the office, where their most prized liquor, the Bordeauxes at the moment, was kept. Sure enough, instead of a dozen bottles sitting on the wine rack, he was greeted by twelve empty slots. "How the fuck did this happen?"  
  
The rest of the gang entered the room, their concerned expressions quickly turning into shock when they saw the empty wine rack that sat proudly on display. Steve was the first to react; he put a hand on Tony's arm to force the other man's attention to him. "Calm down," he said, "They could be misplaced or something. We should check the storage rooms, they're probably there along with the rest of our stock." Tony nodded, his face still dark with rage, and the gang trooped into the storage room next to the office.  
  
What they saw was infinitely worse than what they could have expected. The well-organized store room was a mess: smashed glass was strewn everywhere, remnants of food spilled over and trampled, and the shelves cleared of every last bottle of liquor. They stared at the room in horror; all their work, their pride, gone and in its place was this wreckage of this destroyed store room.  
  
"Who did this?" Bruce said in a hushed whisper, as though speaking any louder would further wreck the room.  
  
"Hydra." Natasha found herself answering. All heads turned to look at her, curious and questioning, but she could swear that Steve's eyes narrowed as though in distrust, and a shiver ran down her back. How much did he know?

“How do you know that?” Tony demanded, his tone sharper than he’d intended because he was upset about the callous and very personal attack on his domain.  
  
Natasha wished she had kept her mouth shut, but it had slipped out. And she knew for a fact she was right; not that she was keen on sharing in public how she knew she was right. “Makes sense, doesn’t it?” she answered. “They’ve set up shop here and of course they’re going to try to bump off the big competition with a dirty trick.”  
  
Tony cursed as he stalked around, still staring at the mess. “What are you all standing there for?” he snapped. “Help me clean this up!” By ‘help’ he meant he’d supervise the clean up from his office. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d pushed a broom and he wasn’t about to start now.  
  
Pepper and Bruce were the first ones to leave to find cleaning supplies, and Thor and Clint awkwardly followed although neither appeared enthusiastic about cleaning. Tony muttered darkly and went to his office, sitting down heavily before reaching for the phone. If he was lucky and offered enough cash and the stars aligned he might be able to bring in enough food and booze to tide them over for the night. Maybe.  
  
Natasha stared down and the mess, reading the clear message to her. She shook her head slightly and then began to gingerly pick up the larger pieces of glass to put in the garbage bin she set upright. “Got something to say?” she prompted, feeling Steve’s gaze on her. It was unlike him to not immediately move to help.  
  
“Where were you this afternoon?”  
  
Natasha froze but she didn’t stop her efforts at clean up. “I was out for a little while, running errands. Why, did I miss you coming calling at Tony’s?”  
  
“No. I just thought I saw you at Columbus Park with some guy who wasn’t Tony.” He watched her reaction carefully.  
  
Natasha felt trapped. Either she could tell the truth about Rumlow and she would look as if she were involved in the destruction of their store room, or she could lie about being at the park and she would look as if she were involved in the destruction of their store room. She couldn’t win. She felt a burst of anger at HYDRA for having found her and put her in such a precarious position.  
  
“What were you doing with that guy, Natasha?” Steve asked her quietly. He didn’t want to believe that she was partially responsible for the raid on the Avenger.  
  
Natasha wanted to trust him but she just couldn’t let him know about her past. He was so bright eyed and a good person; she didn’t think he could ever understand the things she’d had to do to survive. “Nothing,” she said finally, which was the truth. “But if you’re worried about it, you can go ahead and let Tony know.”  
  
Steve appeared surprised at her suggestion, but he didn’t have time to reply before the others came in to help with the clean up. She focused on sweeping up glass. She was unsurprised when Steve slipped out of the store room, most likely to go talk to Tony. She couldn’t blame him. It was the right thing to do.  
  
She just hoped Tony believed her when she explained to him what had happened.

\------------

“What the fuck,” Tony growled. Natasha looked up in alarm to see him striding towards her. He grabbed her arm and pushed her against the shelf. He was so close that she could close the distance between their mouths by standing on tiptoe. But right now their proximity was threatening, she could see the fire that burned in the depths of his eyes, flames ignited to burn her. For the first time she could remember, she was scared of Tony.  
  
She glanced past his shoulder; the others were staring at them, mouths dropped open. Steve was standing near the doorway, arms crossed, his expression stern.  
  
“I did nothing,” she said evenly, her voice low.  
  
“Bullshit.” Tony exclaimed.  
  
She took a deep breath. “I did nothing,” she reaffirmed. She laid a hand on his chest. “Tony, you trust me don’t –“  
  
He shoved himself off her roughly. “How can I trust you when you’re meeting Rumlow behind my back?” he snarled. The others in the background exchanged low murmurs. “And you’re telling me you don’t have anything to do with this?” Tony gestured around them, at the ruins of his empire.  
  
Natasha closed her eyes. When she opened them again they were emotionless, a blank slate. “Can we talk in private?” she said in the same low voice.  
  
Tony looked at her; she was his lover, the one woman he trusted (aside from Pepper). But her secret rendezvous with Rumlow had broken that. How much more was she hiding from him? He had long since stopped believing in coincidences, so what were the chances that the same night Natasha met Rumlow in secret, the Avenger was trashed by what was clearly a Hydra raid?  
  
Right now she had closed herself off from him, hid behind the poker face she wore as armor, just as she did when they first met, before he had slowly coaxed her into taking it off and baring herself to him. Just how much of that was her true self? Tony wondered cynically. Or had she been planning his downfall all along with Hydra?  
  
Innocent until proven guilty, a voice piped up at the back of his head. He wanted to squash it; Natasha’s guilty verdict was all but on a silver platter before him. Might as well get as much as he could from her. “Fine,” he said brusquely. “Office. Now."  
  
Natasha was doing her damnedest to keep everything buried, to hide behind her masks. To not let this crush her, even as her chest felt tight and her throat wanted to close up. She wanted to flee, to move cities, start afresh. And she didn’t, because this was her family. These people kept her in Chicago this long, they were her family. Who knew nothing about her. She shoved that thought away. You didn’t need to know every intimate detail about someone to love them. But she was done hiding. She was going to do everything she could to keep her home and family. They finally reached Tony’s office and she closed the door behind them and turned the lock.  
  
“I know what Steve told you. And you need to know that he is all balled up, Tony. Rumlow and I spoke in Russian, and I know Steve cannot speak it. The only one here that can is you. Steve only has a fraction of the story. I told him to fess up, to tell you what he saw. Because I have nothing to hide. I did not know HYDRA would raid the Avenger, but I know why they did it.” She sighed, turning her back on Tony. He frowned, she was obviously upset. He could tell that from her speech pattern. She was making an effort to sound natural, but her wording was dipping into formal territory.  
  
“They want to drive a wedge between us." She spoke in Russian, low and quiet. Enough that Tony could understand her clearly. "I told you Rumlow wants me back, what I did not tell you was that I set the bar in HYDRA. I was the best they ever had. And they want me back, that was why I met with Rumlow the other day, he tried to convince me. He tried bribes and incentives. But I would take none of that. This is my home, and you and the group? You are my family. Rumlow threatened me, threatened the Avenger. But I took them as idle, I knew he would not be able to pull a raid on us off. But he did. I was blind. Foolish. I have gotten soft.” She shook her head and turned to him.  
  
“Tony, I wasn’t a runner. I was HYDRA’s top hit man. No one expected a dame to bump them off, and it worked. And they want me back for a big job. One only I can pull off. And they’ll stop at nothing to get me back. Please believe me when I say that I had no part in this.” She closed her eyes and breathed through her nose. Tony was a little disturbed with how her speech kept swapping. She was agitated, he could tell.  
  
“I’ll fix this. And then I’ll leave. You’ll never have to see me again. I’ll disappear. I never meant to jeopardize you and the Avenger. I have been a fool. I will make this right, I promise you that. But I am not returning to HYDRA.” She turned swiftly on her heels and started for the door.  
  
“No,” Tony said, his voice loud and clear behind her.  
  
Natasha paused at the door, reluctantly turning to look at him. “What do you mean, no?” she asked evenly, keeping her guard up. This already hurt; she would not let him hurt her further.  
  
He closed the distance between them and looked down at her, his gaze intense though he was no longer angry. “I meant, I don’t want you to disappear from my life as if you never existed. I was angry. I’m still… perturbed about what happened to my property. But I believe you. Maybe I shouldn’t, maybe you’re more trouble than you’re worth.” He flashed her a smile that took the sting out of his words. “But I’d rather have you in my life, trouble and all.”  
  
It wasn’t romantic, but it was honest and his words sent a wave of emotion through her.  
  
“I will fix this,” she answered. “I’m still angry about what they did. I’m still angry they think they can never let me go, that I’m stupid enough to go back to them like a starving dog. I did get soft. This life completely took me over. It was… more wonderful than I ever could have imagined,” she said with a wistful smile. And then her voice hardened, and sounded more under control. “I will teach them a lesson they won’t soon forget about what happens when they come after me and my own.”  
  
Her words were chilling but all Tony felt was love and admiration for her. “You aren’t alone in this, baby doll.” He was every bit as ruthless as she was; in some ways, perhaps even more so. “They’ve come after my girl and tore up my things. They need to pay.”  
  
Natasha gave him a slight smile. At least they were on the same page. She been lulled into a false sense of security, and had allowed her operative skills to weaken. She wasn’t going to repeat that mistake. And was going to remind HYDRA why she had remained their top assassin and why they should fear her.

\------------  
  
Tony stepped out of his office into the hallway, and was unsurprised to see others loitering in the hallway. “Cleaning done?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
“Uh, we were just…” Bruce began, not quite meeting his gaze.  
  
Tony smirked, feeling a flicker of amusement. “Eavesdropping. I know.” He didn’t get as far as he had by being stupid and witless. “Too bad for thick doors, huh?”  
  
Thor was more shameless. “We were unable to hear anything of value,” he conceded.  
  
Natasha kept her expression neutral, managing to keep from smirking at Thor. She looked over at Steve and paused. “Like I said,” she told him quietly. “I didn’t betray any of you.”  
  
“I believe her,” Tony said. “Whoever has a problem with that can get out right now.” He didn’t see a point in mincing words. He also wasn’t going to announce Natasha’s history. That was her private information to share, if and when she wished.  
  
Steve met Natasha’s gaze. “I didn’t want it to be true. But you have to understand how it looked,” he said quietly.  
  
“I know. You look out for the Avenger. Nothing wrong with that.” She gave him a small smile and then cleared her throat, shifting to all business. “HYDRA has thrown the first punch, and it’s our turn to return the blow. I have an idea.”

\-----------------------------

“Your idea involves all of our tommy guns, and most of our ammunition. And us rushing into an unknown joint.” Clint said, hefting his gun. “Y’know, I like this plan.” He added, grinning wide. Steve and Thor both nodded. Bruce looked a little hesitant with his gun, but Natasha knew he could handle one. She handed her gun off to to Steve.

 

“Tony’s not coming.” She said, turning to her man. Tony gawked at her. “The hell I’m not!” he almost shouted but Natasha waved her hand at him.

 

“One, you’re way too important for us to let get injured or even killed. We’re all expendable.” The rest of the group nodded. “Two, you’re the distraction.” Blatant stares at that from everyone in the room.

 

“You and Pepper go in like normal people, and cause a distraction. Clint and I will take out the opposition, Steve and Thor will muscle our cargo back to the truck, along with any extra goodies we can take. Bruce will be covering both of you from the back.” She pointed to people in question. “Your military friend got us that nice truck, we might as well use it.” She smirked, propping her gun on her shoulder. For once she was dressed in slacks and a man’s shirt, but there was no way she’d pass for a man.

 

“You and Pep get going, I’ll get us in the back. Load up, boys. It’s time for revenge.” She turned and started walking towards the truck. She knew the others would follow, minus Tony and Pepper, who were heading for one of his nicer cars. Clint climbed into the front seat, but she insisted on driving. She was an unusual woman all around with her skills, but her team, her friends, were used to it. The rest climbed into the covered back and they were off.

 

“Clint, bump off the two back guards quietly.” She tossed him a rifle that had been sitting in the seat. Clint was a crack shot; she had confidence that he could do as she asked. She pulled the truck up as quietly as she could so she could give him a clean shot. Two pops and she peered over her shoulder, seeing the corpse fall to the ground. She pecked him on the cheek and backed the truck up to their loading bay.

 

“Clint, let’s go. Thor, Steve; get to work. Bruce, go cover the boss. Let’s move out.” She hopped out of the truck and checked her gun over. Clint slung the rifle over his back and got out as well. Together they entered the joint quietly, Natasha had a knife out, and within the first five minutes, her hand and knife her coated heavily in blood and there were three corpses in her wake. Clint had started gawking at her after the first one, but by the third slit throat, he seemed to be taking it in stride. She offered him a smirk and wiggled bloody fingers at him. They cleared out the back quietly, covering Thor and Steve in their loading of the cargo. She could hear raised voices deeper in the warehouse, she could only assume that was the intended distraction.

 

“Well, well, well. It seems you’re not an easy dame to convince these days, Natalia.” Rumlow stepped out from behind a door, two large goons with him. Natasha cocked a grin and levered her gun at him.

 

“You just don’t know how to deal in the right currency, Rumlow. You can convince impressionable little girls straight off the boat, but I’m a woman. And you made me who I am, Brock. You shouldn’t be surprised. Now, your boys there look like muscle. But I don’t see any guns. What do you want to bet I can raze you three to the ground before you even move.” She let her hand hover over the trigger. Rumlow just grinned and both goons turned around and dragged a bound Tony and Pepper.

 

“Because if you’ve risked it all already, baby, you’re not going to shoot down your boss and this pretty little doll. Your life, Natalia, for your little Avenger friends here. We’ll let all these pretty little faces go, if you promise to come back and by my little Black Widow again.” He reached over and patted Tony’s head and she snarled. But she lowered her gun.

Her gaze slid over to Tony, who looked angry and defiant. He met her gaze and shook his head once, hard.

Rumlow watched the exchange. “Don’t tell me she suckered you into falling in love with her?” he asked Tony. “You aren’t the first, and you won’t be the last. But none of it means anything. She’s dead inside, just like the rest of us.”

“No,” Natasha said, so softly no one else heard her. “No, she said louder. She lifted her gun again and without letting herself think about Tony – and if she was honest Pepper hadn’t factored into the equation at all – she pulled the trigger without hesitation. Rumlow remained standing for one long moment, his expression shocked. Then his body fell, blood seeping from the kill shot to the forehead.

Almost right away two more shots were fired and the two goons dropped. Bruce emerged from the back, gun in hand.

Natasha stood over the body of the man she had once answered to, the man who thought he could take her and make her his puppet once again. “No,” she said to Rumlow’s dead body. “It’s my life, for myself.”  
  
When she looked up she noticed that Bruce had a knife protruding from his shoulder. It had been meant for his neck but he had dodged enough to where it was a painful but not life threatening stab. He left it in until he could have access to the equipment to clean and suture it shut. “Sorry,” he said with a grimace. “They caught me by surprise and nabbed Tony and Pepper. I couldn’t get a clear shot until now. Steve and Thor are all done and ready to roll.”  
  
Natasha nodded her thanks and gave him a slight smile before going over to remove Tony’s bindings as Clint did the same for Pepper. “Are you okay?” she asked her lover.  
  
“Yeah… you know, aside from the shame of being the damsel in distress.”  
  
She stifled a laugh that was half humor but also half relief. “It’ll be our secret.”  
  
Tony’s face softened into a smile and he pulled her tight against him. “Are you okay?”  
  
She nodded. “I am. And I will feel even better once we get back to the Avenger with our loot.” Her gaze darkened. “Bruce’ll need stitches and it’s not a smart idea to hang around. More goons might be coming.”  
  
“If they go to the Avenger, we’ll be armed and ready,” Tony said darkly.  
  
Natasha nodded and followed the rest of them out. “He didn’t think I would do it,” she said softly, looking back at where Rumlow lay, a pool of his blood around his head. “He thought I’d gone soft, that my feelings for you would make me weak.”  
  
Tony smiled, patting her bottom. He leaned in close, his lips brushing her ear. “He was wrong.” Natasha turned her gaze from the bodies to her lover, nodded, and followed him out.

\-----------------------------

The trip back to the Avenger was quiet, Clint and Pepper had taken the car back, and Tony rode in the cab with Natasha. For some reason he had decided to keep his hand in hers when she wasn’t shifting the truck. As she was backing up to the loading dock of their joint, Tony leaned in and grinned.  
  
“I think you owe me a night to ourselves, Tasha.” His voice was sickly sweet and Natasha blinked and then a slow smirk spread across her face.  
  
“Where at, daddy?” she hummed to him, but he was already lifting her out of the truck. She caught Steve’s eye and the blond just grinned and gave a slow nod. The Avenger would be taken care of, and it seemed danger just kick-started Tony’s already high-powered need. They trailed off to his office, and he locked and closed the door behind him, lips already on hers.

 

Natasha was home, with the people she loved and cared about. That was what mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> Art by innercinema! We all planned and worked on this together.


End file.
